Overhead Cranes

Overhead Cranes

You might find in some instances that a gantry hoist with an A-frame support structure isn’t quite strong enough to lift the heavy load you need moved. You might need to transport a deceptively larger steel beam from location A to B and need a crane capable of moving such heavy loads. Should you find yourself in this predicament, enquire with Modular Cranes about one of our overhead cranes. We are one of Australia’s leading overhead crane manufacturers and suppliers, providing businesses with solutions that enable them to lift loads of up to 100 tonnes. Sturdy and heavy duty, an overhead gantry crane can fast become a highly valuable addition to any commercial or industrial worksite.

Building and Design Features of Overhead Gantry Cranes

Also known as a bridge crane, an overhead gantry crane is suspended from building structures and runs on suspended runway beams. Low headroom wire rope hoists are typically used in manufacturing or maintenance operations. The overhead system consists of parallel runways with a travelling bridge spanning the gap. A gantry hoist, the lifting component, travels along the bridge to lift and move loads of up to 100 tonnes.

There are primarily two types of overhead crane. The most common is the Single girder Electric Overhead Travelling (EOT) crane which you would find in most factories and worksites. It is electric powered and can be activated either by radio/remote control or via a pendant on the crane itself. The other type of overhead crane is the Double girder Crane. This model has two bridges connected to Bogie type end carriages to reduce wheel loads on building structure and can achieve a better hook lift than single girder types.

Common Uses for an Overhead Crane

Overhead cranes are often used for the purposes of refining steel and other metal alloy products such as aluminium and copper. The crane is used to pour the raw materials that make up the metal into a furnace. This hot metal is rolled to a pre-determined thickness and is then either tempered or heat treated in order to reduce the metal’s hardness, making it easier to work with.

An overhead gantry crane is used to store the metal for cooling. Once cooled and fashioned into coils, they get loaded onto trucks by an overhead crane before being relocated to factories and manufacturing plants. The car manufacturing industry also commonly uses overhead cranes to move raw materials.